Mayan Calendar Doomsday Panic Hits Russia

New York Times reports strange December 21st phenomena in Russia, caused by humans:

There are scattered reports of unusual behavior from across Russia. Inmates in a women’s prison near the Chinese border are said to have experienced a “collective mass psychosis” so intense that their wardens summoned a priest to calm them. In a factory town east of Moscow, panicked citizens stripped shelves of matches, kerosene, sugar and candles. A huge Mayan-style archway is being built — out of ice — in Chelyabinsk in the south.

In Prison Colony No. 10 in the village of Gornoye, in November wardens told that anxiety over the Mayan prophecy had been building for two months, and some inmates had broken out of the facility “because of their disturbing thoughts.” Some of the women were sick, or having seizures.

More common are reports about panicky buying. In Ulan-Ude, the capital of the Buryatiya region, citizens have reportedly been..